Prankster Nearly Sneaks Into Meeting of Cardinals

Among the men in red gathering today at the Vatican ahead of the papal election, the impostor in purple was easy enough to spot.

The meeting had not yet begun when someone noticed that one of the bishops posing for pictures with the arriving cardinals was wearing his cassock and his crucifix slightly too short.

On closer inspection they realized his purple sash was just a scarf.

The impostor's phony ecclesiastical robes were convincing enough that he nearly managed to get past the door of the cardinals first crucial meeting since the pope resigned.

Ironically, one of their first orders of business was swearing an oath to secrecy, which would have been moot if the outsider had managed to gain access.

The Swiss Guard promptly ejected the man, later identified as Ralph Napiersi, who told reporters his name was "Basilius." Napierski said he belonged to an Italian Orthodox Church, which does not exist.